Chapter 2: An Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Reunion

Hidden Terrace Manor was named for the terrace that stretched the width of the house. It was almost entirely unseen from the driveway due to the mature oak trees, which graced the rolling landscape.

No one would ever guess that within this luxurious home a strategic plan was being formed by an alliance of wizards and witches to save both the Wizarding and the Muggle worlds from the most powerful, evil wizard of all time... Tom Riddle. The self-proclaimed... Lord Voldermort.

Remus Lupin strode across the terrace looking and waiting, as if he were expecting a guest. Worried, he sighed and walked into the massive front door that lead into the foyer of the beautiful home that would now serve as the new headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

Melodia descended the stairs looking both tired and overwhelmed.

She was of average height and build, very attractive, yet simply stated. Her full, straight auburn hair, which was usually either swept into a ponytail or tied in a lose knot at the base of her neck, flowed loosely down her back between her shoulder blades.

She knew that he would be there soon, and she was very nervous. She had been nearly 20 years younger the last time they were together.

"Is she sleeping?" Lupin asked as he made his way across the foyer to the foot of the stairs.

"Yes, finally. She is having a really hard time of it though. I told her that we would wake her the moment they arrived, but I could tell she doesn't believe that. I wish there was something I could say to comfort her."

Lupin shrugged and said, "I am afraid that she doesn't trust any of us, but I suppose that is to be expected considering the circumstances."

Melodia nodded. Her warm brown eyes reflected the stress that the past twenty-four hours had put on her.

Her gentle facial features, only lightly marred by time and experience, were now lined with concern and grief for a woman and her son that she did not know; however, Melodia especially worried for the man that she loved.

He was out there somewhere trying to make his way to the rendezvous. She felt utterly helpless. The only things that she could do were wait and pray.

"You're tired, Melodia. You should try to get some sleep," Lupin urged.

Melodia knew that he was right, but she just couldn't see herself shut up in her room upstairs. Not now. Not until they arrived. Until then, it was out of the question.

As if seeing this for himself, Lupin relented, "I knew you wouldn't do it, but I had to tell you that you should. Albus might strangle me if I didn't at least try to make you see reason."

He grinned slightly because he knew that was a heavy exaggeration.

"Thank you, Remus, I know you mean well, and you are right. I am very tired, but I doubt I could sleep even if I tried. I know I will not rest until I see for myself that he is all right."

After a short pause she asked, "Does he know I am going to be here?"

"No. I don't believe so, but I honestly don't know," Lupin shrugged as he retired to the kitchen to make some tea.

I'd better go and check on my guest, she thought.

If she wakes up and he's not here yet, she will be beside herself with worry again.

The oversized bedroom was draped in shades of delicate green. The shears and walls were light camel and were trimmed in gold. Antique tapestries and beautifully coordinated colonial type furniture adorned this bedroom. It was Melodia's second favorite bedroom in the house, besides her own.

Centered in this lavish room was a large overstuffed mattress within a solid oak four-poster bed. It appeared just as new as it had the day that it was purchased. Under the covers of this magnificent bed in a spell driven sleep lay Narcissa Malfoy.

Once Melodia was satisfied that Narcissa was fast asleep, she decided to go check on her uncle and wait for the arrival of the next two members. From the top of the stairs, she heard a knock at the front door. Her heart began to pound inside her chest.

"This is it! He is finally here. Oh, my God!" She gasped as she ran the length of the great hallway to the nearest bathroom and froze in front of the mirror. Her palms were wet with perspiration, and she was trembling slightly.

"Pull yourself together, Melodia!" she scolded herself. "This is the moment that you have waited for ... you will finally see him again."

She appraised her reflection and was not happy with the appearance of the woman staring back at her. She looked tired and weathered.

"I can't let him see me like this! He will think I've gone 'round the twist!" she said desperately to herself.

Melodia splashed cold water on her face and toweled off quickly. A bit more satisfied with her appearance, she pulled herself to her full height, straightened her clothes and her hair, and headed toward the staircase once more.

She heard voices coming from the study. One of them belonged to Lupin. The other one had to be him. His voice was much deeper now, but she would recognize it anywhere. Chills ran down her spine as she listened to him speak. Oh, how she hoped he would be happy to see her; however, given the circumstances in which they departed, in addition to the stress of the current situation, she couldn't help fearing that this might be a bit much to hope for.

As she began to descend the stairs Lupin came out of the study followed by a tall man with jet-black hair. It was longer than she remembered, almost shoulder length, but still greasy looking and unkempt. He wore a rather tattered, long, flowing, black robe and dirty black boots.

At first he did not see her, his gaze was fixed on Lupin. He was getting the news, no doubt, about her uncle and Narcissa.

"We need to get Draco into bed. He is very distraught and has been worried for his mother," the black headed man said.

"I cannot tell yet if he is still frightened or merely relieved to be done with this; however, I do believe that he needs some sleep and the care of his mother now, more than ever."

"Where is Narcissa?' he asked.

Lupin told him that she was sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms at the top of the staircase.

Just as he heard this, he looked up and saw her descending the stairs to meet him.

She was lovely! Just as he remembered her. She was older certainly, but the years had been far kinder to her than they had to him, he noticed, with a pang of bitterness.

"Dear God! Melodia?"

His voice croaked as he uttered the words. He felt that old familiar foolishness he always felt in her presence. She seemed to float down the stairway toward him, smiling the enchanting smile that haunted his dreams. It was the one he thought he would never see again.

His heart skipped a few beats as she reached out her hand for him to take and spoke to him for the first time in over twenty years. "Hello, Severus."

Melodia's voice seemed to tremble with the words she finally managed to speak, but why not? She felt as if her entire anatomy was experiencing a massive earthquake.

He instinctively pulled her into an embrace that almost took her to her knees. No words were spoken for what seemed like an eternity. She noticed that Lupin had discreetly excused himself, and at last she was alone with the man she loved. In his arms she was safe and warm. This man was nothing like the boy she left behind so many years ago. He was sturdy and strong. His arms held her tight, his chin rested on the top of her head. Heaven, she thought to herself contentedly.

Just then, a masculine voice whispered, "I agree, it is heaven."

Slightly startled, she looked up into his dark eyes, which seemed to bore through to her very soul.

Trying to disguise her obvious case of nerves, she teased, "Wow! Uncle was right! You are very good at that, aren't you?"

He did not answer. In truth, he was more nervous than she was. It was not in his nature to have such close physical contact with anyone, especially a woman, and he shocked himself by embracing her at all.

He had occasionally sought attention from a member of the opposite sex, but that was to satisfy physical need. He had no real problem with doing that at all. Those moments, however, called for discretion, not for intimacy. He hated knowing that he was not accustomed to this type of closeness.

Severus told himself that this encounter was different. He had not seen Melodia in many years, and she had played a very special role in his life at one time. He hoped that she would not notice how awkward he felt. It was an odd sensation for him to show any type of affection, but he new that at that moment that he was truly happy to be holding her.

"It is very good to see you again, Loddie," he said softly as he tightened his embrace.

She shuddered a bit when he called her by the beloved nickname he had given her so many years before. All too quickly the long embrace ended, and she faced him again still looking into his intoxicating eyes.

"For me, too, Shaggy. I am so relieved that you're finally here and safe."

He tried to smile. She could tell that he was exhausted. Everything had happened too quickly for him and the others. He swayed a bit as he released her from the embrace they had shared.

"Oh, Severus, you look so tired. Come with me and sit down."

She walked with him into the sitting room toward the enormous eighteenth century sofa. They sat in silence together for moment before she suggested, "How about some hot tea? Remus was making some earlier and I will go and get you a cup."

She stood up to turn away, but he caught her by the hand.

"No. Wait... Stay with me for a moment first," he asked quietly.

Feeling degraded, he became frustrated with himself for sounding so pathetic. This type of thing was not in his nature to say at all. He simply couldn't believe she was here, and all of the sorely missed years seemed to have melted away the first moment that he saw her.

Smiling, she sat down again. Then suddenly she exclaimed, "Severus! You are injured! What the..." For the first time, she noticed the gashes in his robes.

Most of them were around his back and neck, but she also noticed a few fine gashes on his crown and on the back of his head. A few of them were bloody but had been dry for some time now, by their appearance.

"What happened to you? It looks as though you have been attacked by a wild animal or something!"

She reached up to brush his hair away from the wounds, and he winced and ducked away slightly.

"You could say that!" he snapped.

"It was Sirius Black's pet! That infernal 'horse-bird or bird-horse' creature he called Buckbeak! The idiot animal was trying to kill me!"

Despite the tormented look on his face, Melodia burst into laugher.

Snape's face became dark and menacing, he curled his lip with intended sarcasm as he silkily retorted, "I am certainly glad that you find humor in this, because I assure you, I do not!"

She cupped her right hand over her mouth, looking like a child that has just been scolded for making too much noise.

He glowered at her for a moment looking as if he'd like nothing better than to throttle her, then quickly spun away from her and strode toward the study.

She desperately tried to stifle her laugher and finally managed to blurt out, "Oh, come on, Shaggy!"

Severus whirled quickly around to face her and was about to respond, when she said, "He's just an animal! Not to mention, he thought you had murdered Uncle Albus and attacked Harry! What did you expect him to do?" she asked sarcastically, then added, "bow to you then give you a lift to the outside of the gates?"

She could tell that she had struck some sort of nerve, but was not sure just what kind or which one.

"If you are trying to get cheeky with me, Little Loddie, I assure you, tonight is not the night for it!" His eyes became black, and he sneered with mild contempt as he spoke the last.

Melodia surprised him by laughing out loud and ruffling the top of his hair. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "You must be Professor Snape! I have certainly heard a great deal about you over the years," she teased.

Completely dumbfounded, Severus could do nothing but stare at her with his mouth opened slightly.

"Well, I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but I haven't decided if that is true or not quite yet." Snape glared at her again clearly incensed at her response. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

She gave no pause to his expression, but said, "You know something, Professor? That look might carry some weight around Hogwarts, but it is completely lost on me! I believe my dear Shaggy... er that is... I assume you are in there somewhere..." looking deeply into his eyes as if trying to see who was behind them, "that you have inevitably met your match."

This time, she turned and walked toward the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "Wait just there. I will be back momentarily with your tea."

When she returned, she noted that he still looked very tired, but he was no longer scowling. She presented him with a cup of freshly brewed tea and sat beside him once more.

He sipped the delicious tea silently for a moment, then said, "Thank you, Loddie." Hearing her nickname called again made her heart leap with glee.

"You were right you know," he said as he sipped his tea again, and placed the cup back in the saucer.

Melodia looked puzzled. "Right about what?"

"Professor Snape. That was him... or me... a few moments ago when we were speaking." Then he added, "He's kind of an 'ass' really." He paused to sip his tea once more. "You see, he is who I have become."

He sighed heavily and continued, "Shaggy has not been present since you left school," he said as he eyed her carefully anticipating a response.

Melodia felt a sharp pang of guilt as she watched his expression carefully, but said nothing.

"Professor Severus Snape is usually the one seen by everyone else, and he is not the most popular person at Hogwarts, believe me."

He sipped his tea again and yawned. "You, my little Loddie, have caught me on 'an off night' tonight; otherwise you may have seen a bit more of him yourself," he finished with his lip curled in playful sarcasm.

Melodia giggled sweetly, then said, "You know, Shaggy? You're just too irresistible when you snarl like that."

Severus would have normally found this annoying had it come from anyone else, but he didn't. He remembered how she always used to say ridiculous things like that and he usually had the same reaction.

At last he shook his head in defeat and said, "I see that some things never change do they, Loddie?"

She smiled at him again, and this time, his cynical demeanor faded away for good.